Showit vs. Elementor (WordPress)

Showit boasts an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor that has a similar feel to the Adobe Suite, which should make photographers feel at home. It still requires some time to get oriented, but the learning curve isn’t too steep. Additionally, Showit has an active Facebook user community and a wide array of help documentation to answer any questions you have as you get set-up.

WordPress has a reputation of being more technically challenging. However, the Elementor drag-and-drop builder makes designing and launching a website far easier. Provided you’re starting with a pre-designed theme, you should have little difficulty customizing and launching a website.

With that said, WordPress still requires more getting used to than Showit due to the control one has over their website. You’ll still be responsible for setting up hosting, making sure plugins don’t conflict with one another, and making sure the back-end of your website is updated.

Who has the edge? Showit

Showit gives you the ability to design the mobile version of your website within a mobile frame. This is very convenient for an understanding exactly what your mobile content should look like on a phone.

You will need to design the mobile version of your website in addition to desktop version. Elements don’t automatically snap into place as they do in some other website builders. The advantage, however, is the amount of control over your mobile design.

There have been some reports that Showit websites fail to render properly on certain Android phones, and there is no way to control exactly how a Showit website will look on a tablet device such as an iPad. Regardless, the Showit provides far more control over the mobile version of a website than rivals Squarespace and Wix.

Elementor not only gives you the ability to easily design the phone and desktop versions of your website, but the tablet version as well. You simply toggle between the three views: mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Unlike Showit, when you design your desktop layout, the mobile layout generates in a fairly intuitive way. All of your styles and elements snap into place so you don’t have to redo a ton on the mobile side—just minor tweaks (although you can customize this as much as you want). Having access to the tablet view is particularly helpful because there may be things that you want to appear on tablet but not on phones.

Elementor is also naturally more responsive than Showit in that content will automatically grow with text.

Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor

This is a tougher category to compare because we were able to create almost matching versions of our website designs on both Showit and Elementor (see the example above). There are also certain design elements that are easier to achieve in each platform.

However, if we’re just discussing design aesthetic—there’s a bit more flexibility on Showit than Elementor. It’s not that you can’t achieve the same thing with Elementor, it’s just a bit more challenging in some cases. Of the two identical websites above, it took us longer to develop the Elementor version than the Showit version.

Who has the edge? Showit

It’s hard to beat WordPress when it comes to features and tools.

Due to its popularity and open-source nature, many online marketing tools have some sort of integration with WordPress.
It’s also much easier to quickly add additional functionality to your website through the use of a plugin.

One reason we really like Showit is that WordPress is used for blogging. This way Showit users can take advantage of the WordPress ecosystem. The only downside is that not all WordPress plugins will work with Showit, and you may not have the ability to add plugins if don’t have the top-tier Showit subscription.

If you’re using Elementor, however, you’ll have access to most of the WordPress ecosystem.

Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor

Let’s clear something up: Showit is not ‘bad’ for SEO (more about that in this post 5 Things We Wish People Knew about SEO).
But WordPress is more optimizable, and there are more tools available to help optimize a WordPress website.

And all things equal, it will be easier to optimize a WordPress website because one usually has more control over their website, such as access to their server.

Showit does have built-in SEO tools and if you have a WordPress blog, you can also utilize some WordPress tools, too. But, you won’t get access to your server, which does limit what you can do to optimize your website.

Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor

WordPress is used by millions of people. So needless to say, there’s probably someone out there that can help if you’re having a problem with your WordPress website.

Moreover there are seemingly countless WordPress-oriented Facebook groups and YouTube channels dedicated to community support for some aspect of the platform. Elementor also has their own community group on Facebook, which—at the time of writing this—has over 30,000 people.

Showit has a much smaller user base, but an active community and mighty support team. The Facebook group has around 5,000 members, but there are plenty of Showit designers in the group that are usually willing to lend a hand. If you purchase a template from us, for instance, you get email support from us and access to our Showit set-up course in addition to your access to the Showit support team and their help documentation. That’s a lot of support. (Note: Users who purchase an Elementor design from us also get access to our email support and Elementor set-up course.)

Both Elementor and Showit have support teams that can be reached by email. Showit’s support team, however, can also be reached by live chat within the Showit app. Ask five Showit users why they like Showit, and don’t be surprised when all five say ‘outstanding support.’

Who has the edge? Showit

There are a few factors here, but in general Elementor is going to be less expensive than Showit.
A Showit subscription will run between $228-$408/year depending on what subscription is chosen (and it will cost more if you choose a monthly subscription).

If you want to blog on Showit, you’ll have to choose one of the more expensive plans. And if you want to be able to do things like add WordPress plugins, you’ll need to be on their most expensive plan.

Elementor, on the other hand, costs $49/year and renews at a 25% discount the following year. You would be responsible for finding a website host, which could, of course, vary in cost. But you will get full access to the WordPress ecosystem.

(P.S. If you’re looking for a host, we recommend Flywheel or Siteground, or letting us manage your hosting.)

Who has the edge? WordPress/Elementor